Importing from Outlook in 10.52 and 10.53 on Windows 7 64bits

Importing from Outlook in 10.52 and 10.53 on Windows 7 64bits

Hi,
I am new to the Opera suite. I am using the Opera Browser for only a week and amd for one day trying to enter the "new world" offered by the Opera e-mail Client. I am coming from years of Outlook and I need to import both e-mails and accounts. The things is that none seems to be working.

I have read the instructions and it all seems very neat.. only that on my system (W7 - 64bits) clicking "Mail and Chat Accounts", then "Add" and "Import e-mail" and then selecting "Outlook Express" leads to a window where the "Browse button" is missing! Selecting any of the other e-mail clients leads to a window where the Browser button exists.

Without this Browse button to locate the messages and accounts settings which I add carefully saved before changing my system into W7 and re-installing everything, I cannot import my accounts onto Opera e-mail client, and much more important, I cannot import my messages! I wish this can be overcome so that I can change my e-mailing experience after years with Outlook.

Welcome to the My Opera community!

The browse button for the Oulook Express import might not be present because Outlook Express isn't present.

Also, I'm not sure if you could even use the Outlook Express importer to import from Outlook. Does Outlook use dbx files like Outlook Express does? (Outlook Express's dbx files are usually in "C:\users\user\appdata\local\identities" or something like that.

You may have to import into Thunderbird first and then use the Thunderbird importer in Opera.

For your abook, you'll need to export to a csv file and use a converter. (Set the First name, middle name and last name values to "Full name" and set to the email value to E-mail". Then, you import the adr file through file (or O-menu -> settings) -> import and export -> import contacts.

What type of accounts do you have in Outlook? Just pop3? Just IMAP? Or both?

If you just have IMAP, all you need to do is enter your IMAP account settings in Opera via Mail and chat accounts, without importing anything.

Importing Outlook accounts into Thunderbird and then using the Thunderbird importer in Opera may be your best bet.

Edit:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP100669141033.aspx should tell your where Outlook stores your messages and what type of files it uses. (it doesn't seem to use dbx files).

(Note that Opera supports importing mbox files (the standard format), but not all clients use them.)

Thank you for the detailed reply. First I had what can be said to be serious mistake in the title of my post. I use Outlook Express for 10 years in several computers and could not even remember that the Outlook name alone refers to the MS Office application. But having said that, that does not change anything on the problem.
I was impressed that the option to import account and messages from Outlook Express does not let us import the dbx files and the files with the settings of my several accounts from any place. Before formating, changing XP to W7 etc I had saved all those files. I regularly backup all of them or even synchronize some folders with dbx Outlook Express messages across computers from time to time and I could not ever expect that this simple process would not be available in any other mail client.
I know where the dbx are located and actually I saved them on several platforms (pendrive, a cloud storage and anoter harddrive as well). The thing is that the computer where I am starting everything from scratch after installing W7 (and then Opera) was not giving me an option to import all the files I had carefully backup before cleaning that computer.

Thank you for warning me that the process to add my addressbook from Outlook Express will also not be very neat. :-(

I have another computer still running XP and Outlook Express where I still have everything. I tried yesterday to import (accounts only to give it a try) from Outlook Express into Opera which I also installed on that computer. It worked. So what I could do is to use that computer as a means to convert things to Opera via the Outlook Express that is still there and with almost all the e-mails. I can add more e-mailed to it from the other computer importing the dbx "folders" "by hand".

Actually, given all this, I think that one option I am considering is to install Windows Live Mail on the computer that now has W7 (and soon in the other computers I use as well) and use it as a storage and access point for all my e-mails up until now and start Opera from scratch. I have 1GB of e-mails in dbx) I am used to the organization of folders I was using for years the Microsoft product can be my access point to my archive up until now.

By the way: I use both POP and IMAP accounts actually. I understood what you indicated about the IMAP ones.

On other very sad difficulty which also made me loose one day trying (along this import mails topic) to find out if how to do it is how to transfer one single e-mail from one computer to another. After hours I found in the forums that is ant possible (given that an e-mail is not treated as a file) and that I would have to copy the entire mbx. Well, I think I can filter the message I want and then save that "view" as a mbx and import it to the other computer. What a trouble just to "drag and drop"/port a simple message from one computer to another.
In the forums one person suggested keing the mbx syncronized across computers using DropBox. I do use Dropbox and I may consider adding the Opera folder to the Dropbox folder. But again, what a complication for small things. The Opera folder would have to go under DRopBox and thus I will probably have to create junctions/symlinks to it so that Opera can recognize my profiles, accounts, mails etc.

Thanks again for the reply, which helped a lot.

There's a program called dbxconv that converts all of Outlook Express's dbx files to mbox files, which Opera can then import via the generic mbox import (*into* an existing pop account that you set up first). But, when doing this, you'd only have the option to import the sent mbox into All Messages/Sent. The rest (including trash) would all be imported into All Messages/Received. But, You can then re-sort things manually if needed. (Also, make sure you don't have any messages left on the server when doing this stuff. It will avoid getting duplicates)

Unfortunately, the site is down right now and I don't have a copy of it.

Instead, we should really try to investigate why the browser button is grayed out.

But, even then, note that the Outlook Express importer in Opera has a bug. Embedded in OE's dbx files are old messages that you've completely deleted. Opera doesn't skip these when importing. So, you may end up with a bunch of messages that you thought were gone a long time ago, especially if you've been using OE that long. Compacting in OE doesn't help this either. But, Thunderbird's importer should be able to skip those, which is another reason to import into Thunderbird first.

Originally posted by frmo:

Thank you for warning me that the process to add my addressbook from Outlook Express will also not be very neat. :-(

If you export Outlook Express's address book to a csv file (all fields would be fine), you can use this to *automatically* convert to an Opera adr file. This will make things easier. But note that in some situations, OE's csv exporter has bugs and may produce some funky entries. Normally though, it'll work just fine.

Originally posted by frmo:

Actually, given all this, I think that one option I am considering is to install Windows Live Mail on the computer that now has W7 (and soon in the other computers I use as well) and use it as a storage and access point for all my e-mails up until now and start Opera from scratch.

Starting from scratch would be your best bet, if you can do it. If you do, it's best to use all IMAP accounts as things are way easier to fix in Opera when the database gets corrupted. With pop accounts, depending on how bad things are, it will involve installing another Opera and doing a generic import while losing all your filters etc. Now, Opera usually works fine and people have been using the mail client with pop3 for years without problems. But, just saying.

Thanks again. Very useful information (for instance knowing that Opera would retrieve deleted messages from the dbx. That would create a mess).
I will try to import via an .csv file the address book - the address book is crucial.

Regarding importing all messages, I think the solution that fits m best is really to install Windows Life as a successor of OE and use it to access to all the messages up until now (keeping its organization) and start using Opera from Scratch.

After a decade with OE I never lost e-mails and I ahd several computers along time. I also got worried with this comment "easier to fix in Opera when the database gets corrupted." So there is a chance that that all-in-one database in Opera gets corrupted. Very, very scary this one.

Originally posted by frmo:

I think the solution that fits m best is really to install Windows Life as a successor of OE and use it to access to all the messages up until now (keeping its organization) and start using Opera from Scratch.

Yes. Sounds good.

Originally posted by frmo:

I also got worried with this comment "easier to fix in Opera when the database gets corrupted." So there is a chance that that all-in-one database in Opera gets corrupted. Very, very scary this one.

The good thing is, in the rare chance that this would happen, it's just the database that would be messed up. The actual messages would still be in tact (they're not part of the database). You'd just have to import them into another Opera to get them back.

Originally posted by frmo:

I have read the instructions and it all seems very neat.. only that on my system (W7 - 64bits) clicking "Mail and Chat Accounts", then "Add" and "Import e-mail" and then selecting "Outlook Express" leads to a window where the "Browse button" is missing!

Oops. I kind of misread that part. I saw "grayed out" instead of "missing". Sorry. Silly me.

The reason it's missing is that there's not supposed to be a browse button with the Outlook Express importer. There's just automatic detection of the Main indentity for the installed Outlook Express. Since OE, isn't installed, the importer is useless.

Also, found dbxconv at the right location. It's at http://www.ukrebs-software.de/english/dbxconv/dbxconv.html

It will convert OE's dbx files to mbox files that Opera can import.

Just in case you want to try it:

In WinXP, goto start -> run -> regedit -> "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities" -> export the outlook express key to a reg file and import that into Win7.

Then, in win7, edit the Store root value in the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{oe_account_id}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0" key and fix the path to what you want. Then, put your dbx files in that path. (A restart of Windows or a log in and log out might be necessary).

Then, perhaps Opera's OE importer will find your files.

Edit:

You could skip the reg file stuff and just put your dbx files in "C:\users\username\appdata\local\Identities\{C90BD8B6-E434-46DF-A8FF-AA92D3019766}\Microsoft\Outlook Express" and see if the OE importer finds the files. (Change the id to the id that's in your indentities folder)

Thanks for the extra tips. "Fooling" the Opera importer placing the dbx files where they are expected to found is a good idea.